Monte Ne - Hotel Rows

Hotel Rows

In December 1900, with $52,000 of individual investor's money and $48,000 of his own, Harvey formed the Monte Ne Investment Company, which held the deeds to all of the land. The first hotel completed was the Hotel Monte Ne in April 1901, which opened in May. It was three stories high and had two wings 300 feet (91 m) long. Each room had a doorway to the outside and the hotel was surrounded with wide porches.

In April 1904, Harvey organized the Monte Ne Club House Hotel and Cottage Company with capital stock of $250,000. A.O. Clarke from St. Louis, Missouri served as architect and superintendent of the company. Harvey wanted to build five large hotels: a three-story main building called the Club House Hotel and four 300 to 450 foot (91 to 137 m) long "cottage rows," each to be named for a state bordering on Arkansas. Stock holders in the company received stock certificates that listed privileges such as transportation on the Monte Ne Railroad with 150 lb (68 kg) of baggage and a 25% discount for the stockholder and his family at the Hotel Monte Ne. Missouri Row, begun in August, 1904, was the first hotel constructed. This Clarke-designed building was 46 feet (14 m) wide and 305 feet (93 m) long and built of 8,000 logs with a cement floor and red tile roof. Fourteen thousand cubic feet (396 m³) of concrete were used. The tiles were shipped from Chicago. The center and two ends of the hotel rose to two stories, the remainder being a single story. Hotel Monte Ne, Missouri Row both featured porches 575 feet (175 m) long. The hotel had forty 16 ft² (1.5 m²) rooms, each with a fireplace. Harvey employed area carpenters and stonemasons to build Missouri Row. In April 1905, to save time and money, the work schedule was changed from 9 to 10 hours per day and some wages were cut. Many workers went on strike and, when their demands were not met, they quit. The men formed a union, and although Harvey thought of himself as a friend to the working man, he viewed unions as another kind of monopoly or trust. The strike delayed construction, but by the end of May 1905, a full workforce was in place. In July, carpet, washstands and furniture, including iron-and-brass bedsteads, were installed in the rooms. Cannon balls and shells from the Pea Ridge battlefield were sunk into the cement porch on either side of the main entrance. The hotel opened in September 1905 with room rates of $1 a day and $6 a week.

In February 1907, with nearly 300 new stockholders, Harvey began construction on his next hotel, Oklahoma Row, also designed by A. O. Clarke. It was built to the west of Missouri Row with a wide lawn. It had a similar log, cement stone, and tile construction. The dining room was on the north end. Each of the 40 rooms had fireplaces, as did the dining room and center hall. Every room featured electric lights, sewerage, and running spring water. The hotel also boasted a three-story cement tower, one of the earliest multistory cement constructions in the country. Oklahoma Row and other construction projects drained Harvey's funds. Harvey managed to raise enough money to finish Oklahoma Row, but due to his lack of funds when that hotel finally opened there was no gala event, as there had been when Missouri Row was finished.